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Reggae isn't my main vibe, so the names loose me, but this track takes me back to when the parents were out and I could smoke weed in the garden. Seems a long time ago now. My old man had an impressive taste in music. You could find Ska through to classic rock in there, but I remember a Trojan box set which I went through a period of playing most evenings.

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From your post you seem very easy going and very laid back just like me. I'm 24 still trying to spread my wings and get a taste of adventure. Can you tell me more about the strain hunters and all that they do.

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Well, the core of the Strain Hunters consists of Arjan Roskam and his closest friends and his company of employees based in Amsterdam. Look up Arjan Roskam in Wikipedia.

Cannabis is an amazing plant that can quickly (over generations and in evolutionary time-frames) adapt itself to various environments of the world. In the longer sense of evolution, there have arisen 3 major differences in the species, namely Sativa, Indica and Ruderalis. These varieties are only sub-species of the Cannabis Species, and they do freely interbreed.

But on just about every continent of the world and in varying locations on those continents, the cannabis plant has adapted itself differently to its local environment. Its adaptations have resulted in differences that we experience through its taste, or effects, or varying levels of cannabinoids (the oils, scents, resins of the plant). These differing characteristics or growth patterns are called phenotypes. We call these differing specimens "strains".

Arjan started back in the 80's (I think), determined to collect specimens of the various strains of cannabis from around the world. The various strains from around the world (if they have become a local dominant strain) are called "landraces". Arjan and his Strain Hunters have toured the world to collect the seeds of these landraces to build his library of landraces. You can see the documentaries of the tours of the Strain Hunters right here in the forum or on YouTube.

Using these landraces, his other company "GreenHouse Seed Company" breeds them and crosses them in order to develop strains with very special characteristics of taste or color or strength or specific cannabinoids. Arjan has many friends, but as seen in the documentaries, there are two that are explicitly seen with Arjan on his tours. They are Franco Loja and Simon, Arjan's Man in the Field. It seems that Simon performs a lot of reconaissance, locating growers worldwide who would be willing to show the StrainHunters their fields, Simon helps to arrange for security and appropriate contacts as preparation for the tours. Franco Loja is a former employee of the GreenHouse who showed extraordinary affinity and love for the cannabis plant; Franco became one of Arjan's closest friends, and eventually partner in Strain Hunters. Franco Loja became the most devoted "Strain Hunter" of all. Franco and Arjan spent many years collecting strains, breeding the strains to create the wonderful selection of strains that the company now offers in the form of seeds.

In 2016, Franco was devoting himself to exploring the possible uses of cannabis/cannabinoids in the fight against Malaria. He was in the Congo working with the locals along these very lines of work when he fell victim himself to the disease. Unfortunately, Franco lost his struggle against the disease, and he died on 2 January 2017. We are all extremely saddened with the loss of Franco. He was our mentor and friend for many years; and a world-wide recognised pioneer in the cannabis breeding industry and he was well renowned for his re-educating the world about cannabis. Look up Franco Loja in Wikipedia to learn more.

And the rest of us, like you too, are "Strain Hunters" of varying levels of involvement. Some here in the forum know Arjan and Simon and Franco personally. Some are employees within the companies. Some are good friends of the core and company. Many of us don't know them personally, but we admire them just the same. Some of us are growers. Some are breeders in their own right. Some here don't grow at all, they just come in here to chat or just to watch. Some come in here only to search through the many years worth of journals to learn how to improve thier own grows. And some just fire-up a joint and come in here just to look at the beautiful pictures of plants.

So Maivis, please continue to browse around in the forum; there is more in here than you think. It will take you decades to see it all. Please enjoy. And if you need help or have questions, do not hesitate to post your questions, or better yet, open a journal.

I do recommend that you log-on from a PC instead of from a smartphone or android. On those smaller devices you cannot see nor can you reach all the areas within the forum.

About us

Strain Hunters is a series of documentaries aimed at informing the general public about the quest for the preservation of the cannabis plant in the form of particularly vulnerable landraces originating in the poorest areas of the planet.

Cannabis, one of the most ancient plants known to man, used in every civilisation all over the world for medicinal and recreational purposes, is facing a very real threat of extinction. One day these plants could be helpful in developing better medications for the sick and the suffering. We feel it is our duty to preserve as many cannabis landraces in our genetic database, and by breeding them into other well-studied medicinal strains for the sole purpose of scientific research.